Kilitical Discussion

Anybody think the Bradley effect is going to show up on Tuesday? I know it's been considered immaterial in modern elections, but we're talking about Pennsyltucky, the Heartland, yo. A lot of rubes out there can be highly susceptible to social desirability bias. And mange for that matter.

If you don't know about wtf I'm talking, go read yourself some Wikipedia and then stop back to comment.

Speaking of polls, don't forget to voice your opinion on Nana and Popo at right.

Lego's Jack-o-Lantern

Now all I need to do is track down his Boo from last year. Mad props, Lego Man. Mad props.

I promise any praise left in comments will reach the creator.

HeBe GB 10/26

Up now! W00t. Go download HeBe GB's set on Dirtbox from Sunday. Special note to the Cali Curse breakdown. It's like I always say, "Dangerous. Motherfucker lives in hell."

Odds and Ends, Proto Edition

On top of what I have just stated in the last post, it's very hard to make progress on the Backloggery when I keep booting up Mega Man 9. Proto Man Mode has gotten significantly more daunting now that the realization has hit me that I need to beat all four Wily stages in one run without the aid of the Shop. The only plausible way of doing this is to start playing through, retaining every E-Tank I come across, stockpiling them until the final run through. I suppose I could forage through the stages I've already beaten, but practicing the Fortress run should make things go more smoothly.

Both polls have closed, and the people have spoken. A chick dressed as Old Snake with Raiden face camo can be hot, and in respect to the minority, yes, it is also pretty complicated. Also, I will retain my PS2 MvC2 copy in the face of an impending downloadable release, though that would have happened regardless of how you voted.

I went to a Dirtbox Radio broadcast on Sunday and saw the illustrious HeBe GB throw down a hot set, littered with some of my old faves. I'll be sure to post the link when the MP3 is available later this week. Of special note is (what I believe to be) the Loxy and Dylan remix of California Curse. I know I'll be rocking that in the S in the very near future. Catching the set did whet my appetite for the old habit, and GB has invited me to practice up and throw down a tag set at some point. An enticing offer I am sure I will take him up on sooner or later.


And after a dominant performance in my awesome absence, I return to AwkSi tonight for hopefully another win over ▲ Force. Four of my core players held it down last week so I could enjoy an extremely successful Happy Hour, so I owe it to them to pull out all the knowledge stops this time. We seem to have a pretty tight stranglehold on first place for our location, barring any trouncings in the coming weeks.

I think that's all. Oh yeah, save yourself $10 and don't see Saw V.

Cabinet Fever

So, yeah. Slow goes it on the Mame cabinet. Lego and I have taken some preparatory steps, but there is not a lot of free time betwixt now and All Saints. Realistically it would be at least another week before we could actually have it functionally running, and likely another week of polish to have the entire piece solid.

You can tell this is our first cabinet, and actually first large scale project of this nature. We've gone with 1/2" MDF, as opposed to the 5/8" and 3/4" specified in a few plans. This is due to availability and the probability that we will not be too hard on the unit. Reinforcing the monitor shelf should alleviate any structural issues, as nothing else in the cabinet should compare to the heft of a CRT.

There is such a flood of other games into the market at the moment, I find myself very distracted from the project. Fallout 3 drops today, and I've been following the media far too closely over the last six months to not pick it up first day. Penny Arcade Adventures finally lands on PSN Thursday as well, and likewise I am too big a fan to hesitate for long. The new PC should be arriving late this week or early next, and that, of course, will be followed by a quick Steam-powered acquisition of Cryzzisis to really evaluate the 9800GX2. Still need to play Bioshock as well; I've been lucky thus far not to have the twist ruined.

These bright shiny new gaming experiences are the competition for the classic Mame action. I know as soon as it is up and operable, a few marathons sessions of Konami's X-Men will be unstoppable. I then will try to steer Keif towards some cooperative Metal Slug. But until I rock the shit out of somebody with a V-ism Custom Combo in Street Fighter Zero 3, it will not have been truly played.

Forgot to mention, MM9 Proto Man Mode, apparently shop disabled. No screws to collect.

Commercial Crossover Equity Crisis

Now there really is a financial crisis with which to be concerned.

Apparently the ESRB has rated Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 for release on XBLA and PSN. This forces one to wonder, what will happen to the value of my PS2 version? A quick check on eBay shows the game valued around $90 USD, though a year or two ago it was not uncommon to see a mint copy for $150. Could the general decline in the fighting genre be to blame?

Oddly enough the Dreamcast version (the only arcade perfect port) is running closer to its original price, in the neighborhood of $50. Perhaps the scarcity of the hardware has impacted the popularity of the superior version... Hmm...

Anyways, should I try to sell my copy of MvC2 now? Poll to the right.

Get Equipped with Downloadable Content

Thanks, Downloadable Man!

Despite my comments regarding finishing GTAIV and then attacking Proto Man Mode, I jumped in last night on a whim. I burned through Galaxy Man's planetarium and defeated him without a fatality, but soon ran into the notoriously difficult boulder miniboss en route to Jewel Man.

I've since beaten Jewel Man, which is very convenient considering how much I love Jewel Satellite for Plug Man's stage, but, speaking of stages, what the fuck is up with some of these stages? Sure, Magma Man in a geothermal power plant, I get that. But where the fuck is Concrete Man, a zoo?

Anyways, Proto has the chargeable Proto Buster which is quite handy (which MM didn't have in 9, and originally didn't get until MM4), the evasive slide (which first appeared in MM3), and to my surprise the ability to reflect or absorb projectiles with his shield, which makes dispatching Metools a breeze once you get the timing.

Can't imagine this run through will take me all that long. Knowing the order and all speeds things up quite a bit. I'll let you know how it goes.

Gray Fox

My new haircut from the masterful barbers of Seabrook has left me looking especially dashing in the left temple. Make sure to compliment me next time you see me.

HeBe GB 10/10

Best reprazent. HeBe GB - Dirtbox Radio - October 10th. Check out what you missed.

Cosplay of teh Year

Damn dis bitch is good at dressing up.

I ran into this awesome sauce Old Snake with Raiden Face Camo MGS4 Cosplay over at the House Crescente Built. Lil' Twin and myself both marveled at it, and she was able to confirm it is actually the world's greatest cosplayer Omi Zombie.

Our original debate was whether this was a Raiden cosplay as Kotaku stated, or Old Snake cosplay with aforementioned Raiden Face Camo. (If this doesn't make any fucking sense to you, go play MGS4.) I sided with Kotaku, as when Raiden first shows up in South America Act II, he is donning a trench coat, which he then tosses onto the radome module of one of the Gekkos he decimates.

Bis Sis Prinny turned out to be correct, however, as was evidenced by her own description of the costume. Upon closer inspection, a shirt and tie can be seen as well, which is part of Old Snake's Eastern European disguise.

Definitely check out the rest of her cosplays. Tons of great MGS, especially the Boss, both in her fatigues (with the Sorrow) and in her Sneaking Suit. Teh Awesome. Nice Eva, too. Way better than the skank I got a shot with at PAX. (Sorry, Skank.)


But it begs the question, can a chick dressed as Old Snake or Raiden be hot? Answers to the right, pls.

MM9 Boss Sequence

For anyone that didn't catch this abomination on Final Form, here is my horrendous rendering of the boss order for MM9.

A few additional notes:

Jewel Satellite is teh shit. It's great in Plug Man's stage, and makes the first room of Concrete Man's stage a breeze.

Black Hole Bomb is the weapon of choice against the Magma Dragon Mini Boss, the absolute best way to damage the boss of the third Fortress stage, and very handy against Wily's second form.

I took out both Splash Woman and Jewel Man with just the Mega Buster, but I recommend Galaxy or Hornet for your first target as they are painfully easy to avoid.

(I think as soon as I finish GTAIV, I'm going to purchase/download Proto Man Mode.)

Financial, Crysis

Got a WaMu credit card application in the mail the other day. This other day being the day after WaMu folded/got pwned. The collapse is understandable, though, you know. A big company like that is bound to run into some financial difficulties. I mean, what did they know about managing money, anyways? ... Funny is all, that I would get a credit card application from a company that had gone out of business while the correspondence was in transit. That's the credit crunch for ya, (I guess).

So anyways, as tempting as it was to try and get a Visa branded with a failed bank, I chose to skip the middle man and apply for a Chase card. The primary goals being the acquisition of a new gaming PC to replace the old rig, and the enjoyment of an introductory 0% APR with which to spread out the financial hurt. And when I say "old rig" I mean the POS, totally hijacked, functionally worthless desktop that I haven't turned on in a month.

I haven't even really been a real PC gamer for quite some time, and you can find much more eloquent articles on the idiosyncracies of the modern PC gaming market elsewhere if you're not in the know. Oddly, the game that has been the greatest impetus for obtaining a state-of-the-art system is notorious for being one of the worst culprits in the performance one up-manship racket. That game being Crysis.

That, Left 4 Dead (which doesn't appear to be coming to my console anywhere in the foreseeable future, if ever), and maybe even Starcraft II have whet my appetite for a new box. Here's hoping a Geforce 9800GX2 has what it takes. I can't sell myself on shelling out to crossfire two GX2's, though the option is always out there.

Anyways, I expect to get my Chase card any day now. Let's see how much credit will be afforded to a refusenik such as myself...

New Blog+

It's like starting a new blog, but I get to keep all the experience gained from the last blog!

This is in no way meant as an affront to Final Form, much in the same way as Final Form was not meant as an affront to KMWL. Gaming is still going to be on the front burner, but Killa Blog will have more room set aside for other things that comprise my existence, such as venue anectdotes, MAME cabinet construction, internet memes, and disdain.

Stay tuned!